Skill Order

Champion Matchups

Introduction

Intro:
Hello, my name is Kritya and I have played Jax since early season 1, seeing the ups and downs he has been through. With the recent changes in the 3.10a patch, Jax has seen a substantial increase in power, even if the number changes were relatively small.

What made Jax so strong?
Well the changes on phage are the first thing to spring to mind. The 60 movement speed on killing a creep suits Jax's trading style in lane perfectly, along with the 20 movement speed on attack. Early game you won't be killing many champions all too easily, even with a slow, which is why I feel the change from Icy to Rage benefits Jax, I will be going over this in more detail in a later chapter.
Then there is the upgrade to Trinity Force, upon using a skill, your next auto attack does bonus damage equal to 200% (up from 150%) of your base attack damage. Seeing as Jax procs triforce so much, this change massively benefits his mid/late game. there is also the fact that it is 215 gold cheaper than before.

But BotRK was nerfed?
Despite BotRK being Jax's first item in more or less every scenario, I have found that by using lifesteal quints, it is possible to go triforce into BotRK and still have decent sustain early on. You'll end up buying a few more potions, but with all the improvements on phage and triforce Jax becomes a large threat once completing it. Also, the BotRK nerf only increased cooldown, and decreased range. The decreased range doesn't affect Jax too greatly as most of the time you would want to use it you will be in melee range. As for the cooldown increase, it went from 60 seconds to 90 seconds, honestly it won't affect you that much, late game team fights rarely occur twice within 90 seconds and by the time you buy it with this build you won't be fighting every 60 seconds in lane, your opponent's turret will probably be gone way before then.

Runes

Marks:

There should be little reason to ever stray from Attack Damage marks. They make last hitting so much easier, which is the main goal of early game Jax.

Seals:

Once again, little reason to stray from the cost effective armour seals, they help a LOT with early survivability.

Glyphs:

Sounding like a broken record, there is little reason to stray from magic resist glyphs, whether they be flat or scaling. Scaling outscale flat by level 9, but give very little early on.

Quintessences:

Ok, so the reason for lifesteal is so you can sustain without building a vampiric scepter. However it is possible to use other runes, but your early sustain will take a big hit. Other options include Movement speed and Attack Damage. Movement speed is good for trading and chasing/escaping, Attack Damage makes last hitting easier, however a better alternative would be to practice last hitting as the higher health the creep is when you kill it, the harder you're pushing the wave.

Masteries

Utility:
I explain utility Jax in this video:

This is now my preferred mastery page, credit goes to link with the weird characters, not the one on CLG.

What happened when I tested the utility page (works best with 2 lifesteal quints, not 3)(also changed client back to english due to client instability with korean):

Offensive:

Sorcery vs Fury: The 4% cooldown reduction is much more noticeable and useful than the 4% attack speed. Especially when you're gaining 4% attack speed per attack at level 1 with your passive.

Deadliness and Weapon Expertise vs Blast and Arcane Knowledge: This build is much more focused on items that increase physical damage output, therefore the armour pen is more useful than the magic pen.

Lethality and Frenzy?: As you're building a triforce straight away, you will be critting people, the increase in damage and attack speed are much appreciated when you do.

Alternative: You can trade the 5 points in Brute Force, Lethality and Frenzy for Blast and Arcane Knowledge if you would prefer the improvement to your empower and ultimate.

Defensive:

This page is meant for players newer to Jax, it decreases his overall damage output in favour of a safer lane. This is used when you are in a lane where it is difficult to get last hits at a decent rate. The reason I recommend this to newer Jax players is because the first thing you should focus on with Jax is getting into a good last hitting rhythm, he doesn't have the nicest auto attacking animation with lower attack speed, much like Vayne there is a windup to the attack that takes some getting used to.

Summoner Spells

Explanation:
This skill doesn't really need an explanation, there isn't a need for ghost with the new changes to Phage and flash is the best "Oh S**t" button in the game, and as long as you're carrying wards you can also use your leap strike as a flash, the same way Lee Sin can use his safeguard.

I spent a while debating between this an barrier/cleanse. In the end I decided that I would use ignite at level 3 during a trade to try and burn out a lot of my opponents health to burn some pots and potentially force them back, if you go in on your terms then it is very easily done. However I woulnd't recommend trying this if your are new to Jax, it can backfire very badly.

If you are newer to Jax:
It is possible to use ignite if you are new to Jax, it can help get a kill when you're jungler ganks for you, however some good alternatives are:

Good vs heavy cc comps, however if your lane opponent is Jayce with no stuns then it will hurt you in lane.

Good vs a lane opponent who has a lot of early damage like Jayce, Elise, Jarvan and Renekton. Lose a bit of kill potential for a slightly safer lane.

Very good with the changes to phage, if you're facing a laner that innately pushes to harass like Jayce, Renekton, Vladimir or Riven then exhaust will prevent them from running to tower when you decide to turn on them, there are a lot of cases where exhaust is better than ignite, but it's slightly harder to use well.

Splitpush! Use when facing people like Shen, you want to be pushing him back so he doesn't get take free towers, remember to tell your team to place wards near where they're going to fight.

Skills

Passive: Relentless Assault

Explanation:
This is what makes Jax such a monster at extended trades and pushing. The more you attack, the faster you can continue attacking. It stacks on towers and of course works against towers so if your lane opponent goes back once when you're level 7+ they are likely to lose their tower, just remember that sometimes you want to extend lane phase, as if you push the tower down they can easily freeze and deny you farm, which leads to you mooching off the jungle. "With great power comes great responsibility."

Q: Leap Strike

Explanation:
Always carry a ward, always. This skill is much like Safeguard and Shunpo in the way it can jump to allies and ward. It is also your main harassment tool alongside Empower, I will explain how to properly utilize them in the "Early Game" Chapter.
An all round great mobility tool.

W: Empower

Explanation:
Low cooldown, makes auto attacks stronger, procs triforce. This is the core of Jax's kit and your will be pressing W a lot. It is also an auto attack reset so time it right to get a huge burst of damage. It also works very well with your ult, auto > auto > W, in the time of 2 auto attacks you just did 2 standard auto attacks and a very powerful one, a lot of people will try to back away once they see that much of their life drop. This generally means they won't be doing damage to you and you can easily give chase and do more free damage thanks to the changes to Phage.

E: Counter Strike

Explanation:
Ah, dodge, a very unique trait now. It's also an aoe stun which if set off in a good spot spells the end for the enemy's ADC. It's very costly in lane so try not to use it too much, it's also the longest cooldown of Jax's 3 standard skills. Good survivability and can also be used to engage in certain scenarios, try pairing it with an Orianna+Sona combo.

R: Grandmaster's Might

Explanation:
Every 3rd attack you do additional bonus damage, so basically a free empower every 3rd attack, it's similar to vayne's silver bolts, except the first 2 hits can be against anything. It's active is also very good for teamfights, it increases your armour and magic resist based on your AD and AP.

Skill Order

Safety First!
Ok, so the reason we start with counter strike first is because the stun can save you from any fishy level 1 all ins your opponent might try to pull.
Then at level 2 I get leap strike, 3:20 is when most junglers will be ganking, they will have both their buffs and if you're on blue side you're likely the target of their gank. A creep wave arrives into lane around the same time as they would gank, so if they don't wait then it will be an easy getaway with leap strike.
After that we start ramping up the power with 3 consecutive points in empower.
Max leap strike second to reduce it's cooldown, you're more likely to be saved by a ward jump than if your counter strike was off cooldown. Leap strike also gains a decent amount of damage from levels.

Combos

Represents an auto attack.

Ok so the first combo is a harassment combo, it takes advantage of the opponent feeling safer when you go to last hit, as last hitting is seen as passive. This quickly turns into a burst damage auto attack.

(last hit a creep) > (+)
The empower is used to reset the auto attack, it will also be a 3rd hit so grandmaster's might will proc, this single auto attack will do 200-300 damage and put your opponent off guard. This used to be pretty hard to do with the BotRK build because while you did the first auto attack they would be able to get some distance and you wouldn't be able to land the 2nd hit on them, with the 60 movespeed from rage the second attack should be fairly easy to land.

The next one explains what to do when you ward jump.

The reason you throw in the auto attack is the get the extra movespeed so after you jump you can build a little distance.

An alternative method is:

Slightly more complex, but this order puts the ward down and gets the movespeed bonus in about half a second followed by a stun so they can't follow you with flash. Takes some practice but is a very handy escape tool.

Using Counter Strike in Lane:
Do not use counter strike to harass in lane, it is very costly to your small mana pool and will be needed to escape should their jungler show up. Use it to deny heavy damage or to stun someone who's jumping on you, if you see a jayce switch to hammer and run at you then prepare to start counterstrike as soon as you see him jump, if you're quick enough you'll dodge the following auto and stun before he can knock you back.

Item Builds

Boots:vs
If the enemy team is all AD then ninja tabi are obviously the best option. Also if you go ninja tabi you can get a zephyr to get the tenacity that you missed out on.
However if they have magic damage and a lot of CC, just go straight for merc treads.

Very good item for sticking to and killing a single target, it also gives you a good amount of lifesteal and when combined with your ult can turn you into a lifesteal semi-tank temporarily.

Makes you a ridiculously fast splitpusher, it also compliments aoe comps pretty well. You can get this if the enemy team has trouble taking you down with more than one person. If you get farmed enough it can take 3 people to take you on, if you back off quick enough and they send 3 people top, your team mates should easily get a tower or dragon.

I'm still in two minds about this item, it looks good on paper, but something about it just doesn't feel strong, in my opinion it's the weakest of the 3 items and should only be gotten if you really need tenacity but they're all physical damage so you went for ninja tabi.

People really underestimate the aoe dps of sunfire, I used to get sunfire first against Darius when he was being played a lot and I saw a lot of success with it, the damage from it matched his bleed, the armour and health made it difficult for him to get me to a stage where he could kill me with the ult, by which time I will have more or less emptied his health bar. Strong for dueling ADs and for splitpushing.

Only get this is you got a BotRK, it will increase your lifesteal and make you much tankier, as well as give you some very much appreciated cooldown reduction. If you are having trouble vs an elise or vladimir then getting the cowl early on can make the lane a lot easier, however doing this really delays the triforce so you won't want to build it if you are forced to get cowl early, instead go cowl into BotRK and finish spirit visage.

Thanks to the changes to phage, you can now get triforce and frozen mallet while retaining cost efficiency, in some matchups I really like going triforce straight into frozen mallet, it gives so much stick, kill potential and tankiness that almost no one can duel you, however if they're trying to duel you then BotRK would be better for the lifesteal. Key to remember you don't have much attack speed going from triforce to frozen mallet.

THE teamfight item. Jump onto their ADC, pop randiun's and your ult and go to town. Makes you very tanky and hard to kite due to the slow when they hit you. Would be my favourite armour item if not for Sunfire.

I only ever get this if it's my second full item, triforce into GA is the old build from S1 and is still pretty good, especially with the magic resist improvement.

Early Game

You goal from lane:
Simple, get as much gold and experience as you can, without dying. To do this you're going to need wards, potions and patience. Tower diving because you're bored means you're playing the wrong champion. This is also the time of the game where you'll decide what build you'll be following, and whether you'll be going to join teamfights and play 5v5, or put constant pressure top and build for dueling to relieve pressure from other lanes.

Play Safe:
I can't stress it enough, you need to play safe in this lane, don't auto the creeps at the halfway mark and push to your opponents tower early, you'll get ganked and die. Always carry a ward to ward jump, always keep river warded, and don't sit in lane if it's under their tower and you're half health, go kill golems or something, it's safer and yields a better reward. If you die 3 times then your chances of successfully split pushing and pressuring top go right out the window, so don't go making silly plays like tower dive level 2 because your jungle gank put em to 200 health, if they stay in lane with 200 health you can kill them later, if they go back, you push the lane to their tower and get exp and cs leads.

Engage on Your Terms, Not Theirs:
Don't full on engage because the Renekton used his full combo on you, this means his cooldowns were used earlier and are more likely to come back off cooldown, try and return some damage with a combo of your own, but don't chase him for more than 3 seconds, else you'll get stunned again and probably die. If you can pull off a jump stun with 2 ult procs, then that's the best case scenario and they can't fight you, even if they're a 2/0 jayce (assuming he's only 10 or so cs ahead). If you have doubts about the outcome of a fight, don't fight it.

If They Play Scared:
Freeze and zone, don't engage because they're scared, if they come too close to try and get a cannon then burst them a bit with a combo. Generally when people play scared they stay near a tower, so engaging is generally a bad idea. Also, if they all of a sudden get over their fears for no reason, back off, their jungler IS near.

Mid Game

Decision Time:
Ok, so once you have your boots and a full item it's time to look to take your opponent's tower, and then you make the decision. Do you keep pressuring the top lane, or do you join your team to push mid?
If you are the strongest person in the game item/level wise, then you should push the lane and go for a tier 2. Remember to keep warding and have an escape path in mind at all times. If they try to 1v1 you, chances are you will be able to win.

Splitpushing:
If you decide to go split pushing, then stock up on wards, pots and tell your team what you plan to do. Once you have placed some wards start pressuring the lane and try to take the tower, half the time the opponent will make a deperate attempt to fight you, which is a bad idea once a Jax has charged his passive from a creep wave, whether you went BotRK first or Triforce first, you should be able to win most engagements at this stage and then proceed to take the tower, if they send 2 or more people, back off and alert your team to push bot with 4, or go for dragon.

Midgame Teamfights:
Simple, jump on the adc, stun, use your ult and burst them down. That's your goal, unless their mid is 4/0, in which case you should go for them instead of the adc. The advantage of going for the mid as opposed to going for the adc is that people protect the midlaner less than they would protect the adc, however people like kassadin and ahri are hard to kill due to their mobility, make an educated decision as to who your target should be and go for them, if they leave the teamfight don't chase, pick another target and beat them up instead.

Late Game

Welcome to your playground, this is the stage where you have a triforce, BotRK and a sunfire. There are now very fun champions who are able to fight you one on one, and there will be cases where you can win 1v2.

Split Pushing:
If no one can 1v1 you, then by split pushing you're going to pull 2 or 3 people, which at this stage of the game means that the enemy team will give up an objective elsewhere, do this well enough and you could cause them to lose one of their inhibitors without a teamfight even occurring.

Building:
Build the items that are good against the most dangerous people on their team, if they have a 9/1 twisted fate, get merc treads and some magic resist items. I know it goes without saying, but don't build spirit visage vs graves, zed, kha'zix, lee sin and taric.

Baron:
BotRK + Triforce makes you one of the fastest baroners in the game. You might spend quite a bit of mana on empowers to take it down but it will go down very very quickly. If you have a vayne on your team then the two of you can actually duo it very early on (once you both have BotRK).

Team Fights

Ok, so here I'm going to cover late game teamfights, as I covered midgame teamfights in the midgame section.
Your role is to peel, as weird as it sounds. You spend all this time powering up and getting tanky, to protect someone else. But the reason you peel as opposed to dive into their team is down to 2 reasons.
The first reason is because ADCs and AP carries are very squishy, they need help to defend themselves against diving opponents.
The second reason is because, in solo queue, if you dive in the most likely outcome is your team retreating to protect the ADC and this leaves you 1v4/5. Not a good situation. This will be you fault if this happens, if you stay with your team you are more likely to survive and do your damage, but also if your team decides to fall back then you can fall back with them, rather than be left for dead.

Final Comments

Well that's my guide. It's currently in early stages and I have plans to add a few more sections. However I have some stuff to sort out for uni so this will probably be done next month.

What I want to add:
Lane Matchups
Commentary Videos (not a high priority, there's plenty of commentaries from players much better than me)
Any other ideas? Post em in the comments.

Who are you?
I'm a league player who recently came back from a couple month break, after catching up on all the recent changes I saw patch 3.10a, and my spirits rose greatly seeing the changes to phage/triforce, making Jax much more flexible and viable.
I recently started streaming on http://www.twitch.tv/dire_kritya I am planning to stream league of legends soon, however my computer is quite weak so until I get a new one I will only have the quality at 612p, else it makes my computer heat up way too much. I play top/mid because I just prefer the one on one interaction, I rarely seem to do well as support (except sona) or adc, and my jungle isn't that great either.

I am also headed to university to study economics at the university of kent on the 21st of September, I will be playing a lot of league as a hobby due to the f2p business model, I will try to stream it also, but if the university asks me to stop I won't hesitate to put it on hold.